Crap Towns / Greater Manchester / Ince-in-Makerfield
Ince-in-Makerfield
86/100Crap Score
139th crappest of 984 towns, and 25th in Greater Manchester. Higher scores are crapper.
Have your say
Crap Town of the Year 2026/27
See the raceThe public vote. It's separate from the Crap Score, and it closes on 31 December 2027.
Letters from the locals
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agree it's crap have defended it
Wigan has opinions about Ince
The railway splits it into Higher and Lower Ince. Neither half is doing Wigan any favours.
Nobody in Ince has ever said Makerfield out loud. The railway cuts it into Higher and Lower Ince, the old pit land is flashes and spoil heaps, and the rest of Wigan talks about Ince the way everyone else talks about Wigan.
The fire brigade gets called out to a deliberate fire six times as often as in the typical town, and it's mostly the wheelie bins. The kitchens fail their hygiene inspections nearly seven times as often as the typical town's. It's wet on 167 days a year and there are 2 pubs, so there's not even anywhere decent to get out of it.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Ince-in-Makerfield's 96 for food hygiene means it's crapper than 96% of towns.
- Food hygiene96/10016.1% rated 0 to 2, of the 56 food businesses with a rating
- Deliberate fires94/10034.0 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Rain90/100167 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Serious road collisions79/1003.5 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Criminal damage and arson76/1009.2 per 1,000 people a year, July 2023 to June 2026
- Anti-social behaviour66/10017.5 per 1,000 people a year, July 2023 to June 2026
- Air pollution65/10010.7 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 6.7 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Sewage spills59/100394 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Fly-tipping35/1008.4 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Wigan council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Broadband7/1002.1% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 3.5% across the Wigan council area
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 21 | Mossley | 89 |
| 22 | Leigh | 88 |
| 23 | Uppermill | 87 |
| 24 | Royton | 86 |
| 25 | Ince-in-Makerfield | 86 |
| 26 | Bury | 85 |
| 27 | Littleborough | 84 |
| 28 | Chadderton | 84 |
| 29 | Old Trafford | 83 |
Ince-in-Makerfield by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 89.5 crimes per 1,000 people a year (July 2023 to June 2026) Worse: 17% higher than the typical town's 76.2
- 2 reports of litter and bins on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 1.6 per 10,000 people, 1.8x the typical town's 0.9
- 2 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2019
What's left on the high street
- 2 pubs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 7.1% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (1 of 14) Worse: 1.8x the typical town's 4.0%
- None public swimming pools open Worse: Against the typical English town's 0.7 per 10,000 people
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 1.01am last bus out on a Wednesday Better: Later than the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.1% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Better: 80% lower than the typical town's 0.5%
- 31.7% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 2x the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,425 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Worse: 7% lower than the typical town's 1,532
Wigan council
Have a crap-off
Ince-in-Makerfield against your mate's town, and a match ticket to rub it in.
- ?Fly-tippingper 1,000, council area?
- ?Anti-social behaviourper 1,000 people?
- ?Serious road crashesper 10,000 people?
- ?Sewage spillshours per 10,000 people?
- ?Food hygienerated poor?
- ?Criminal damageper 1,000 people?
- ?Dirty airµg/m³?
- ?No gigabitof premises can't get it?
- ?Deliberate firesper 10,000 people?
- ?Raindays a year?
Ten ingredients. One verdict. Who's crapper? The higher Crap Score takes it.